NY Governor Wants Same-Sex Marriage Legal

NEW YORK (AP) - Gov. David Paterson introduced a bill Thursdayto legalize same-sex marriage in New York, comparing the effort tothe fight for the abolition of slavery.

Paterson, whose job approval rating has plunged below 30percent, is making a political gamble that he can ride the momentumof other states that have recently allowed the practice, and it'sunclear how the legislation will play in New York.

The proposal is the same bill the Democratic-controlled stateAssembly passed in 2007 before it died in the Senate, where theRepublican majority kept it from going to a vote. Democrats nowcontrol the Senate, but opponents are vowing to make sure this onefails, as well. Some Democrats in the Senate have indicated theywon't support a same-sex marriage bill.

Gay marriage is a crucial issue of equal rights in America thatcannot be ignored, Paterson said. He was joined by Mayor MichaelBloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, other electedofficials, gay rights advocates and his wife, Michelle Paterson.

"For too long, gay and lesbian New Yorkers - we have pretendedthey have the same rights as their neighbors and friends," hesaid. "That is not the case. All have been the victims of what isa legal system that has systematically discriminated againstthem."

Paterson, the state's first black governor, framed the issue insweeping terms, invoking Frederick Douglass and Harriet BeecherStowe and drawing a parallel between the fight to eliminate slaveryin the 1800s and the current effort to allow gay marriage.

"Rights should not be stifled by fear," Paterson said. "Whatwe should understand is that silence should not be a response toinjustice. And that if we take not action, we will surely lose."

Gay and lesbian couples are denied as many as 1,324 civilprotections - such as health care and pension rights - because theycannot marry, Paterson said.

Quinn, who is openly lesbian, dared anyone to "tell me Ideserve less" than the right to marry her partner.

"Look me in the eye and tell me that Kim and I aren't a family,that we don't struggle every day, that we don't pay taxes, that wedon't work every day in this city," she said. "No one can look meor her in the eye and tell us that, because it is not true."

At the same time Paterson was announcing his proposal, Sen.Ruben Diaz, also a Democrat but an opponent of same-sex marriage,met with religious leaders to discuss how to block the bill.

Diaz, an evangelical pastor from the Bronx, said his meeting wasto inform Hispanics, Catholics, evangelicals and others opposed tosame-sex marriage of their options to prevent the bill's passage.

Diaz said it was disrespectful of Paterson to introduce thelegislation in the same week that Catholics celebrated theinstallation of New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who has voicedopposition to same-sex marriage.

"I think it's a laugh in the face of the new archbishop," Diazsaid Thursday before the start of his meeting in the Bronx. "TheJews just finished their holy week. The Catholics just received thenew archbishop. The evangelical Christians just celebrated GoodFriday and resurrection. He comes out to do this at this time? It'sa challenge the governor is sending to every religious person inNew York, and the time for us has come for us to accept thechallenge."

Paterson, who attended Dolan's ceremony Wednesday at St.Patrick's Cathedral, defended the timing of his announcement andbrushed off suggestions that he was deflecting attention from thestate's financial troubles, saying he has supported same-sexmarriage publicly since 1994.

"I haven't in any way changed my point of view," he said. "Westand to tell the world we want marriage equality in New Yorkstate."

Paterson noted he was introducing the proposal with "the windsat our back," referring to the recent approval of same-sexmarriage in Iowa and Vermont.

New York Democrats gained a 32-30 Senate majority in November'selections. Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, who did not attendThursday's announcement, supports the measure but has said hedoesn't believe there are enough votes to pass it.

A Quinnipiac University poll this month showed that 41 percentof New York voters backed legalized same-sex marriage; that 33percent favored civil unions; and that 19 percent wanted no legalrecognition for such couples.

In March, a Marist College poll showed Paterson's job approvalrating was 26 percent, down from 46 percent in January and 57percent in October.

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